Concrete railroad tie



W. I7.v MORRISON.

CONCRETE RAILROAD TIE.

APPLICATION FILED Nov.23, 1921.

N22. 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Patented Mar. 21

Arr-WS.

AlOAQ.

W. F. MORRISON.

CONCRETE RAILROAD TIE. ABPLIQATION man mm2-3. 1921.

11 ,410,496. Patented Mar. 21, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- F/E.' /L7 "INN Flin-5' /N VEN TUF? W. E MURE/55N ments in concretev railroad CONCRETE nArLioAn fria.

Application alec November 2a, v1921.

ATo all w/Lomt may concern.

Be it known that I, ,WWILLIAM F. MonmsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vallejo, in the county of Solano and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvement-s in Concrete Railroad Tics, of' which the cation. l

The present invention relates to improveties and the'. primary object of the invention is to provide a concrete tie which will have maximum resiliency, be strong and durable and of such a structure and arrangement that should breakage occur such" breakage will takcpplace at such points, in the tie as to leave equal portions of the tie'intact on opposite sidesv of points wherethe rails are supported, the said tie being formed so as to be relatively weak at equa-distantly spaced pointsfrom opposite ends so that,l tor example, in a tie of a length ot 8 feet, the weak points would'be formed at points approximately 3 feet Yfrom each end.

An object ot the invention is to provide a tie of the character described which may be simply, easily and inexpensively made and which, owing to the provision of thc weak points jliereinbefore described, will bc .more resilient than otherwise.

Anotherobject of the inventionis to provide a tient thecharacterdescribed which ing, due to the employment of simple, in-` expensive. ystrong rail clamping means and will positively hold the rails againstr spreadreintorcing means of the tie proper, which,v

latter provides durability,

strength and resiliency.

Another Objectis to rprovide in a tieA olf the character described a rail clamping means whichjis small, compact, consists ot' itew parts, is Vcapable of being readily and easily assembled and disassembled and which when worn on one side. may be reversed to` present a new clamping and engaging portion.A` Y l Y Y Y The vinvention, possesses other ailvantagcs and features some of whiclnwith ,tholf'oregoing will b e set forth at lengtlrin the iollowing descriptionfwhere l shall outline in full tliat form of the invention which 'l have selected for illustration in the draw companying and Vforming a part of the presi ent specification. Insaid drawings I have shown one form of the construction of my invention, but it is to ybe understood that I Speccation of Letters Patent.

following is a specifin Patented Mar. 2l., LGZE. Serial No. 517,209.

do not limit niyseli to such form since the invention as expressed in the claims may be embodied in a plurality of forms.

.Referring to the drawings;

Fig. l is a top plan view oi" the tie ol invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the tie.

F ig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sec tional view ot the tie.

F ig. 4. is a cross sectional view through the mold such as ,used for forming the tie, showing the means for andmanner of torming the weak points in the tie body.

F ig. 5 is a perspective view ot' one ol the rail clamps as used upon the innersidc oi the rail. v

Fig. 6 is an elevation taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5. v

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of rail clamp used upon the outer rails.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on. line 8- 8oi` Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view through the tie of this invention showing the rail clamping means as when clamping the rail upon the tie. f Y

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of one ot the boltsrused in connection with the rail clamping means..

Fig. l1 is a detail of a portioirot onc ot the supporting plates.

side oit the eferring to the present embodiment ot the invention as illustrated in the accoinpanying drawings,v l designates a concreto tieV of substantially standard dimensions, which tie .is reinforced by two sets 2 and of .longitudinal reinforcing rods. The set 2 extends uppermost in thc tie longitudina-lly .thereof with straight upper portions' portions 5,

Il and bowed or V shaped end of a downe that it will have points of weakness at points equally spaced from the ends of the tie. whereby when severe shocks, strains and stresses are taken up by and cause the tie to break, the breaks will occur at said points of weakness, which points are arrangeduso that the remaining or broken portionsl of the type of i l:noses three quarters andY be 'substantially one' thirty-second ot an inch in width. To pro vide 'for this arrangement,*in the 'forming of the tie, one practical way of forming the weak points is shown in Fig. ,l and consists i in using inverted substantially il shaped mold pieces 9 which are adapted to engage in `grooves l termed in opposite Walls of the mold ll. These pieces are an inch and one-halt Wide and substantially one thirty second o'f an inch thick, and are fitted in place around the reinforcing rods, as shown in Fig. l. lllhcn the concrete is poured into the tie, it will :torni around the members i.) and the groove 8 will be provided in the opposite sides at the top of the tie at points three Ateet- 'from each end ol the tie. Toylurther render the central portion of theI tie relatively weak, this portion is reduced slightly as to transverse thickness,.the reduction taking` place 'from the points 12', which points.` Will. 'be G inches outwardly spaced trom the groovesB. rlhe remaining portions ofV the Vtie will have downwardly and outwardly inclined sides Vand preferably be Wider at the bottoms th anat the tops thereof. Preferably the dimensions of these portions being vvidths'oi' 8 inches along the tops, 9 inches along the bottoms with the height ot the sides being` preferably 9 inches.

- It will thus be seen that the 4rail supporting heavily constructed portions of equal and portions of the tie, that isthe portions at A and on opposite sides of the points Where the rails are supported, are oit relatively heavier construeture and of greater strength thanl the mid portion ot the tie.

l. have found that in the ordinary concrete tie, the tendency is for the tie tobreal: at points between and close to Vthe rails. This is largely due to the fact that concrete ties are not sufliciently resilient to withstand the shocks, jars and strains occurringincident to the usage to which the ties are usually subjected. rllherefore, byprovision of the grooves S which render the tie relatively iveak and by the forming of the central portion ot the tie of less thicknessthan the remaining portion, the tie is strained soas to breakv at Athe Weak points or grooves 8 and will ,thus provide longer and: more adequate size to properly support the rails. Thus all-possibility and danger ot' the tie breaking close to the rails is eliminated. For example, in a tie of 8 feet, ifthe tie is strained to break Vat two intermediate points, Y

two feet apart and each point three feet from an end of the tie, there will remain a three toot section or portion of the tie 'for supporting each rail, the rails on these sections being supported centrally ofthe ends oit said sections. have 'found that by form ingV the grooves or Weak points at the sides and top'only, ot the tie and by use ot the reinforcing rods, the tie is sufficiently strong to withstand ordinary strains and stresses without breaking and has a great deal more resiliency than when otherwise constructed.

.lloivever7 when breaking strains and stresses are 'transmitted to the tie, byreason of these grooves the'breaksfivill occur evenly at the grooves and by so controlling' the breaking points the eiliciency ot the tie is not, it at all, greatly impaired even atter'the breaking thereof. Y l

Embedded in the tie adjacentv the ends thereof arebolts le having enlarged heads l anchored in'theconcreto. These bolts extend above the upper surface'V oil the tie so as to provide for attachment ot the rail *clamping devices 'v thereto and are screw Vthreadetr as at 16 at their upper ends.

Formed transversely ingthe upper surface ot the tie arerecesse's l? in which are mounted Wooden cushion blocks 18, the (upper sil-les and endsot Whichter'minate substantially flush iviththe upper faces andsides ot the lie the tie proper`,"as 4shown in Fig. 9. The

rail supporting plates 2l have openings 23 therein through which the bolts M extend. Mounted Yto engage the ilangesxQt of theY rails vupon the inner sides of the rails, are rails clamping blooks having central openings 27 through vvcrhieh certain' of the bolts extend. Nuts 28 are turned upon the bolts and screwed down to engagethe .clamping blocks 26 so as to hold one of' thebevelled ends 29 of the block in engagement with the rail flanges. "The bevelled ends 29 Y are formed so as to provide shoulders Y30 to engage the outer edges of the rail Harige. The ends of the block are formed alike and provided With the bevelled 'faces on opposite sides so that when the clamps become iivorn new clampingr faces.

tie. The bolts 14 extend through openings Y at one end they may be reversed topresentk Y A. diil'erent--typerof rail clamping block is Y used to engagexthe ila-nger on the vouter sides ofthe rails. A block of this typeis shown in Figs. 7 and 8.` and comprises aV rectangular body portionl having the upper and lower sides thereotV at its endsoppositely bevelled as at 32 and 33, and being provided vvvitli shoulders 84 corresponding to the shoulders 30. Extending from opposite sides ot' the body portion are lugs or projections 36 and 37 adapted to snugly engage in openings 3S formed in the metal plates so as to prevent slipping of the clamps on said plates. An opening extends through the lugs and body portion and receives the other bolts le. Nuts 42 are turned upon the screw threaded ends 1G ot the bolts and screwed down to engage one of the lugs on the body portion. lWhen one bevelled tace ot the clamp becomes Worn the clamp may be inverted to present the other bevelled face for engagement with the rail iange. One of the other ofthe lugs or projections 36 and 87 at all times engages in the openings in the metal platel, at each end. ot' the tie. The taces ot the clamps opposite the bevels are flat as at Alb and rest upon the plates 21.

claim:

l. A concrete railroad tie being constructed with a relatively weak mid portion and having breaking points formed by the tormation ot cracks or recesses extending into the body ot the tie at points so spaced from the ends thereoiC that should breaking strains and stresses be submitted to the tie, breaking thereof Will take place at points spaced inwardly from those portions of vthe tie over which the rails are supported.

2. A concrete railroad tie being constructed with a relatively Weak mid portion and having breaking points formed by the torination of cracks or recesses extending into the body oit the tie at points so spaced from the ends thereof that should breaking strains and stresses be submitted to the tie,

breaking thereof ivill take place at points spaced inwardly from those portions of the tie over which the rails are supported and reinforcing elements extending longitudinally in the tie.

A concrete railroad tie made up of a monolithic structure and having breaking points provided by the formation ot cracks or recesses extending into the body of the tie at points spaced trom the ends thereo't` whereby, when breaking strains or stresses are submitted to the tie, the tie will break at said Weak points.

e. The method of :forming a concrete railroad tie with cracks or recesses extending into the body et the tie at points spaced inwardly from the ends thereof and .from those portions of the tie over which the rails are supported, which consists in molding a complete tie in a mold structure adapted to form inwardly extending cracks or recesses in a monolithic struct-ure, allowing the concrete to set and then removing the same from the mold or vice versa.

5. rThe method of forming a concrete railroad tie with cracks or recesses extending into the body of the tie at points spaced inwardly :trom the ends thereof and from those portions ot the tie over which the rails are supported7 'which consists in pouring concrete into a mold containing reinforcing elements adapted to be embedded into the tie and mold means adapted to mold or form recesses extending into the body ot the tie, allowing` the concrete to harden and then removing the concrete from the mold.

vinieran r. MonRisoN. 

